Chapter 14.28.001
Agricultural and Avian Foraging Habitat Impact Mitigation Program
Sections:
14.28.001.040 Mitigation Requirements.
14.28.001.050 Implementation of Fee Program.
14.28.001.010 Title.
This division shall be known as the “Agricultural and Avian Foraging Habitat Impact Mitigation Program” and may be so cited.
(Ord. 1942, Added, 04/09/2019)
14.28.001.020 Purpose.
The purposes of this division are to implement the agricultural land and habitat conservation policies contained in the 2015 Vacaville General Plan related to permanently protecting agricultural land, avian foraging habitat, and open space. Those policies include:
A. General Plan Policy LU-P2.4 related to the conversion of prime farmland, farmland of statewide importance, or unique farmland.
B. General Plan Policy LU-P5.2 related to the conservation of agricultural and open space lands in the East of Leisure Town Road Growth Area.
C. Consistent with General Plan Policy COS-A1.1, develop a standardized policy for providing mitigation under the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq., “CEQA”) for development projects’ impacts to avian non-riparian foraging habitat.
(Ord. 1942, Added, 04/09/2019)
14.28.001.030 Applicability.
This division shall apply to development projects that require mitigation for impacts to agricultural lands and/or to avian species non-riparian foraging habitat.
(Ord. 1942, Added, 04/09/2019)
14.28.001.040 Mitigation Requirements.
A. Mitigation Required. The City shall require agricultural or avian foraging habitat mitigation for any of the following actions:
1. Development projects that convert prime farmland, farmland of statewide importance, or unique farmland (as classified by the California Department of Conservation).
2. Development projects in the East of Leisure Town Growth Area that convert agricultural or open space lands.
3. Development projects that require annexation to the City that also convert prime farmland as defined by Government Code Section 56064.
4. Development projects that convert land determined to be avian species non-riparian foraging habitat.
B. Types of Mitigation. Development projects required to provide mitigation under this division may elect one or a combination of both of the following options to satisfy the project’s mitigation obligation(s):
1. Provide direct agricultural and/or avian habitat foraging mitigation as specified in subsection D of this section; and/or
2. Pay the appropriate fee as indicated in subsection E of this section.
C. Compliance with Mitigation. Compliance with this division shall be considered adequate mitigation under CEQA for agricultural and non-riparian avian foraging habitat impacts to the maximum extent permitted by law. If a development project, in the applicant’s discretion, seeks to mitigate for impacts to non-riparian avian foraging habitat resulting from the conversion of agricultural or open space lands through the payment of an in-lieu fee, the applicant shall pay the fee established under subsection E of this section for such purposes.
D. Direct Provision of Agricultural Mitigation Land. Agricultural mitigation shall be satisfied by granting a permanent agricultural conservation easement or other permanent agricultural conservation mechanism to or for the benefit of an entity qualified to hold such instrument. The number of acres of agricultural mitigation land shall be equal to the number of acres that will be converted to a non-agricultural use or, in the East of Leisure Town Growth Area, converted to a non-agricultural or non-open space use (i.e., a 1:1 ratio). The direct provision of agricultural mitigation land is subject to the following provisions:
1. The location and characteristics of the agricultural mitigation land shall comply with General Plan Policy LU-P2.4, and/or General Plan Policy LU-P5.2, as applicable. The agricultural mitigation land should be of substantially comparable or better soil quality than the agricultural land whose use is being changed to non-agricultural use.
2. The Director of Community Development or his/her designee shall review each agricultural conservation easement or other preservation instrument for consistency with General Plan Policy LU-P2.4, and/or General Plan Policy LU-P5.2, as applicable.
3. The agricultural conservation easement or other preservation instrument shall:
a. Be executed by all owners of the agricultural mitigation land.
b. Be in form suitable for recordation.
c. Contain an accurate legal description setting forth the description of the agricultural mitigation land.
d. Prohibit new residential and/or commercial development on agricultural or habitat mitigation land that is not directly needed for agricultural production except for a single dwelling unit farmstead.
e. Protect the existing water rights and retain them with the agricultural mitigation land.
f. If intended to provide mitigation under CEQA for impacts to avian foraging habitat, include use restrictions generally consistent with the draft Solano HCP (or final HCP if adopted) related to foraging habitat for the avian species impacted by the development project. Within one year after the adoption of this division, the Director of Community Development shall develop a checklist to be used to ensure compliance with this subsection D.(3)(f).
g. Be held by an entity qualified to hold such an instrument. The City shall be a third-party beneficiary of the legal instrument.
E. In-Lieu Fees. The City establishes in-lieu fees for the satisfaction of agricultural and avian foraging habitat mitigation subject to the following provisions:
1. The fee shall be based on the cost of purchasing farmland conservation easements on land of comparable size and agricultural quality, plus the estimated cost of legal, appraisal and other costs, including staff time, to administer this program and to acquire, manage, and enforce the farmland conservation easement or other agricultural or avian foraging habitat mitigation instrument.
2. The City Council shall approve by resolution the amount of the in-lieu fee. Such fees shall include at least two levels: (a) a fee for agricultural mitigation only; and (b) a fee for avian foraging habitat mitigation only. The City Council may establish a third level that provides for a fee for concurrent mitigation of agricultural and non-riparian avian foraging habitat impacts. If an applicant seeks to mitigate for both agricultural and avian impacts, it shall pay the sum of both fees or may pay the concurrent mitigation fee, if established. The amount of the fee shall be supported by a fee study conducted by the City of Vacaville as it may be amended, updated or wholly replaced from time to time. The fee may be adjusted as part of the tri-annual review of the fee program described in Section 14.28.001.050.A or at any interval deemed necessary to ensure adequate funding for the mitigation purposes of this chapter.
3. The amounts collected under this chapter shall be deposited into a fund created for this fee following the procedure set forth for development impact fees in Section 11.01.030.A of the municipal code.
4. Within 60 days after collection by the City or as soon thereafter as a management entity has been appointed, in-lieu fees shall be apportioned as detailed in the City’s fee study between the City of Vacaville and the management entity, and that portion due to the management entity shall be transferred to a fund administered by the management entity defined in Section 14.28.001.050.A.
F. Payment of an in-lieu fee is subject to the following provision:
The in-lieu fee shall be paid for a development project electing to participate in the fee program prior to (1) the issuance of each grading permit; or (2) subject to the approval of the Community Development Director, recording of each final map. The amount of the in-lieu fee shall be determined on a pro rata basis based on the acreage associated with each grading permit or final map.
(Ord. 1942, Added, 04/09/2019)
14.28.001.050 Implementation of Fee Program.
A. Initiation and Approval. The City Manager or his/her designee shall develop, and is authorized to enter into an implementation agreement, or similar document (“implementation agreement”), with the Solano Land Trust, or if the Solano Land Trust does not participate in the preparation of the implementation agreement after good faith efforts by City, another non-profit entity with expertise in the preservation of agricultural and habitat lands and that is qualified to hold conservation easements (the “management entity”). Thereafter, the implementation agreement and amount of in-lieu fees shall be reviewed and when appropriate, updated by the City Council at a minimum every three years.
B. Purpose and Contents. The purpose of the implementation agreement is to ensure that the acquisition of agricultural and habitat mitigation land through in-lieu fees is achieved in a timely and efficient manner and to provide performance tracking of the acquisition program. The implementation agreement may consist of any combination of policies, evaluation criteria, maps, and other useful decision-making tools. It shall be of sufficient specificity to provide adequate guidance on location, timing, and other factors to be considered in implementation of the acquisition program.
C. Issues to Be Considered. The implementation agreement shall consider the following issues:
1. The goal to include contiguous parcels and areas large enough to preserve agricultural operations and/or foraging habitat lands.
2. The qualities of agricultural land and the type of activities allowed on agricultural mitigation lands.
3. Other relevant factors that would result in the more effective preservation of agricultural and foraging habitat lands as required to meet General Plan policies, SLT conservation goals, and mitigation requirements for individual projects, including:
a. Land within one mile from the City’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).
b. Land outside of the UGB, but within Pleasants Valley, Upper Lagoon Valley, or Vaca Valley.
c. Land within two miles from the City UGB.
d. In the event that adequate land to meet the conservation goals described in the Vacaville General Plan cannot be identified or acquired, the City and the SLT shall meet and confer to identify other areas where conservation acquisitions can occur at a reasonable cost and to satisfy the conservation goals described in the agreement.
D. Use of Fees. The in-lieu fees shall be administered by the management entity in fulfillment of its programmatic responsibilities under the implementation agreement. These responsibilities include acquiring interests in land and administering, monitoring and enforcing the agricultural and habitat conservation easement or other instrument designed to preserve the agricultural values of the land for agricultural and habitat mitigation purposes.
E. Disposition of Land. Interests in agricultural and/or habitat mitigation land shall be held in trust by the management entity in perpetuity.
F. Monitoring and Enforcing. The management entity shall monitor all lands and easements acquired under this section and the implementation agreement, and shall review and monitor the implementation of all management and maintenance plans for these lands and easement areas. It shall also enforce compliance with the terms of the conservation easements or other agricultural and/or habitat mitigation instruments.
G. Reporting by Management Entity. Beginning one year after the adoption of this division, the management entity shall provide in writing to the Community Development Director an annual report delineating the activities undertaken pursuant to the requirements of this section and the implementation agreement, and an assessment of these activities. The report(s) shall describe the status of all lands and easements acquired under this section, including a summary of all enforcement actions, as well as an accounting of all un-expended in-lieu funds received by the management entity and the plans, timing and actions taken related to use of those fees.
H. Provisions for Monitoring Implementation. Within the time frames identified in subsection A of this section for review and update of in-lieu fees, the City shall report to the City Council on the status of meeting the mitigation goals for which in-lieu fees were collected, including identification of the numbers of acres of each type of mitigation land preserved to date.
(Ord. 1942, Added, 04/09/2019)
14.28.001.060 Precedence.
To the extent allowed by law, this division shall take precedence over all ordinances or parts of ordinances or resolutions with which it may conflict.
(Ord. 1942, Added, 04/09/2019)